A burning issue in your lap

I don't mean to be an alarmist ...... but are you aware of a potential danger lurking on practically every flight you take? It's usually quite small and often black. And I certainly don't mean the rather silly, slithery threat that's the plot of this blockbuster movie, due for "release" this month.

Forget venomous reptiles. I'm talking about laptop batteries, the lithium ion ones to be exact. It seems they may be behind a series of mysterious fires on board aircraft. It appears that the average laptop's lithium-ion power supply has the potential to spontaneously short-circuit and combust at high altitudes.

America's National Transport Safety Board, a government agency, is currently investigating. FAA official William Wilkening told recent hearings that, since 1991, there have been 60 incidents aboard aircraft involving batteries catching on fire, smoking or getting hot. He says most of the batteries involved were lithium or lithium-ion.

And the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission says as many as 43 laptop fires have been reported in the country since 2001. Lithium batteries produce electricity through a chemical reaction that releases oxygen. This reacts with one of the battery's components, an organic solvent, to produce heat which can melt the battery's membrane. "When that melts, then everything all goes to hell," says Canadian chemistry professor Linda Nazar in the report.

Should you doubt the veracity of such claims then have a look at what happened to a Dell notebook that stole the show at a recent conference in Japan. Any of you had an incident like that?

Might this potential danger lead to a ban on notebook computers on aircraft? There have already been warnings not to use your laptop on your lap, which kind of defeats the point of having one in the first place I'd have thought. More likely this potentially fiery issue will prompt further research in creating a far safer battery. There's nothing quite like danger and death to focus the mind. In the interim there is this one fail-safe solution to carrying a notebook while flying.

Meanwhile, back to that upcoming movie starring Samuel Jackson and a cast of wriggling co-stars. How about this airline incident as one example of life imitating "art".

Posted
by Rob WoodburnJuly 27, 2006 7:22 AM

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My boss just sent me this URL (a bit tongue in cheek I think...) as this also happened to me, Luckily not in flight. I have some photos though if you need them.

I often ask the question, "what if it happened in flight" and posed it to DELL too. They assured me it only happens while your laptop is on AC power and not ever when it is just on battery. Well, I assured them mine was just on battery when it occurred and I had to prove it by showing them there are no AC power(plugs) in the vicinity of where I was working. Never the less it was swept under the carpet as I think they fear lawsuits.... When the complaint was lodged by our company, DELL send a lawyer to come see me.... Weird? Why not a technical guy

Anyway. The laptop was 3 months old. A D410.

It was an unpleasant experience which I wish upon no one.

Posted by: JB on July 27, 2006 11:45 AM

Lithium Ion batteries have been promoted as the salvation for post-peak-oil transportation and we are seeing them appear in prototype electric cars and scooters. My concern is that while their propensity for "thermal runaway" is well documented the steps taken to prevent it are not.
If a major company like Dell can get it so wrong with a tiny Li-Ion battery in its laptops what hope is there for the emerging alternative transport cottage-industry (electric bikes, plug-in-hybrids etc) that are presently using poorly documented Lithium Ion batteries sourced from China?
The fact is, Lithium Ion batteries are inherently dangerous. Few retailers will advise their clients of this in their rush to profits, despite clear evidence they are exposing clients to serious risk. Lithium Ion technology, while holding out great hope for future transportation, is, in my view perilously immature in the implementation of safeguards.

Posted by: George Parry on July 27, 2006 12:26 PM

I just bought a laptop cooler this week on a whim, more concerned with me being overheated than the battery being overheated. Very glad I did now!

Posted by: Cat on July 27, 2006 4:18 PM

If you read carefully on your boarding pass terms and conditions lithium ion batteries are prohibited as both check in and carry on luggage with at least one Australian carrier. Goodbye laptop, mobile phone, and digital camera.

Posted by: Chris on July 27, 2006 4:28 PM

Shouldn't happen unless the Li-ion battery is being charged without a BMS. These manage the cell voltage and stop overcharging, ideally per cell. Li-ion BMS's are built round chips designd for the job, and they should always be used. Of course there's a big difference between "shouldn't" and "can't" :-)

Posted by: Giles on July 27, 2006 5:54 PM

I have a Dell Axim PDA that uses a lithium-ion battery. When it was new (about 12 months ago) it had a problem where it would spontaneously switch on and run the battery flat in around 30 minutes. Li-ion cells don't like to be rapidly discharged like that, and the result was a very hot PDA; hot enough to burn my hand.

It turned out to be a software glitch, that was repaired with an update to the PDA's system software. I didn't hear about the update from Dell, but through my own research into the problem - something I doubt many people would even know the first place to look!

If it can happen to a simple PDA, I am sure a fault like this could happen to anything from a mobile phone to a laptop, PSP or iPod.

Posted by: Corinoco on July 27, 2006 7:15 PM

Non re-chargable Lithium batteries are prohibited from being brought on planes, not Lithium-Ion chemistries.
Li-Ion is the chemistry that commonly powers laptops, mobile phones and portable music players due to its high power density.

It is true that Li-Ion chemistries are inherently unstable if thier voltage is not closely monitored, though all Li-Ion batteries are controlled via regulator and protection circuitry.

What has occurred is that a shipment of Li and Li-ion batteries caught fire whilst in transit in the cargo hold, not in the passenger cabin. The cargo hold is subject to more stress in terms of temperature, pressure and vibration changes. Any number of these factors combined could have caused a rupture in the battery or caused the contacts to short due to a manufacturing defect.

It is worrying though, maybe tighter controls on QA should be implemented to prevent these sorts of events from occuring.

Posted by: nudge on July 27, 2006 10:29 PM

Whilst Rob Woodburn entreats in his article that he does not wish to be alarmist let me say given his article and the ensuing blogs that it is unbelieveable that DELL has not undertaken a massive recall of the suspect batteries. Is DELL Management cum legal eagles cum insurers playing the dangerous game of "let's sit on our hands and hope this goes away" Remarkably I was in the market for a DELL laptop but ain't anymore. I don't know the experience and qualifications of blogger George Parry but whatever, his comments and Rob's article has most assuredly alarmed me.

there is more than enough anecdotal evidence

Posted by: tony gadaleta on July 28, 2006 7:16 AM

Nice site! Nice comments!

Posted by: xanax on December 8, 2006 11:40 AM

Laptop fire? =) We leave our HP on for 24 hours. may be we shouldn't

Posted by: Alex on March 6, 2007 4:40 PM

New fire safety rules affecting all non-domestic premises in England and Wales came into force on 1 October 2006.

A fire risk assessment helps you to identify all the fire risks and hazards in your premises. You can then decide to do something to control them.